San Rafael council adopts governance agreements to clarify roles, authorizes minor edits

The San Rafael City Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20 to adopt a governance framework that codifies roles, responsibilities and communication protocols between the mayor, council members and city staff.

City Manager Christine Lilevich and senior management analyst Priya Nixon told the council the document is intended to strengthen professional conduct, improve transparency and support onboarding for future council members. The framework includes five sections covering governance agreements, mayor/vice mayor/city manager roles, staff interaction and communications protocols, coordination with the public, and two attachments on elected‑official solicitation reporting and guidance for serving on nonprofit boards.

During public comment, several residents urged additional public review and flagged textual changes they said made the draft unrecognizable from a November retreat version. Ken Dickinson and Gregory Andrews said the language still needed proofreading and that some sections in the current draft diverged from the retreat draft.

Council members framed the resolution as a living document. Vice Mayor Kurtz said success would look like a high‑functioning council and smoother transitions as new members are seated. The resolution authorizes the city manager to make non‑substantive grammatical, punctuation and formatting corrections after adoption.

The council approved the resolution by roll call vote 5–0. The item was presented as staff recommend and will be posted on the city's website and maintained in the clerk’s records portal.